


I Don't Want To Run Away

by Tadamochi



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet, First Meetings, Gen, Kid Rayla, Light Angst, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 05:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17339096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tadamochi/pseuds/Tadamochi
Summary: Her parents were cowards, running away and leaving her all alone. But Rayla does not need anyone’s pity, she is brave and will find a way to become stronger.





	I Don't Want To Run Away

**Author's Note:**

> Just a cutesy ficlet of little Rayla meeting Runaan for the first time. Probably this will be adressed in a completely different way in the show, but I felt inspired to write a little something anyway because I love found family.

_“Why did they have to run away?”_ The little girl thinks, like she has done every day since her parents vanished.

She has noticed the looks on the faces of the other elves. Some are of pity, others looks are of sadness, but to her they all feel like they are judging her for what her parents did. Rayla does not want that, she’s brave and not a coward like them. But she is also hungry right now, so she grabs a few coins to get something cheap to eat all alone.

There are, of course, some adult elves that check on her daily and provide anything she needs. Friends of her parents, people who knew them. She refuses to let anyone take care of her as her new guardian, being too stubborn to accept any help. The adults say that she is “coping”, and that she needs her own space for a few days.

“They think I’m not strong enough.” She mutters to herself as she walks out of the store with a bag that contains her favorite fruits, some of them are free courtesy of the kind shopkeeper.

Then she sees him, an assassin. She has seen them around a couple of times at least, but all she understands is that they are very strong warriors who fear nothing. He is sitting by the fountain, resting after what she assumes was a lot of ass kicking.

Rayla straightens up, trying to look as serious as she can, then walks up to where the other elf is. She carefully places her bag down and stands in front of the elf that is way taller than her.

“Hey you, what’s your name?” She asks him, attempting to look imposing.

The elf raises an eyebrow before answering.

“Runaan.”

“Runaan, you are going to train me to b-be an assassin like you!” Rayla says, but her stutter makes any seriousness in her voice go away.

He ignores the little girl’s demand, giving her only a glance before standing up to leave. Rayla clutches his leg with all the strength she has in her arms to stop him from walking any farther.

“I want to be an assassin!” She repeats this time yelling.

“You are too young.” The taller elf says to her, not bothering to shake her off his leg.

“But I need it.” She begs as she tries to hold her tears. “I don’t want to be like my parents, I don’t want to run away.”

“I can’t.”

Runaan tries to leave again, but her grip on his leg is so tight that he only manages to take one step before he realizes that he is not going anywhere like that. The other elves walking around are starting to notice them, and Runaan is feeling annoyed now. He glares down at the little girl and he sees that a couple of tears have managed to run down her face.

“Please… let me try…” Rayla says again, failing to stifle a sob.

That gets Runaan to shift his expression to a softer one. From what she said to him, he assumes she’s an orphan girl and he sees now how badly it is affecting her. Even if he does not know her, he feels like he should do something. Rayla seems like a brave little one, he can give her a chance. He does not have to actually train her, he thinks. He can just give her a few lessons about posture for combat and maybe how to strike with something harmless like a stick to make her feel better. If she is alone, it can’t hurt to teach her something basic to defend herself.

“I see, you have determination.” He says after what feels like forever. “Meet me here tomorrow at the same time, we’ll see if you can be an assassin.”

Rayla’s expression changes almost instantly. She releases the death grip she has on his leg and she rubs the tears off her eyes.

“R-really?”

“Really.” He answers. “And the others who pass by can see that you won’t run away from a challenge.”

“Okay!” She says excitedly.

And just like that, she runs away with her food before Runaan has any chance to change his mind.

“Children sure are strange.” He laughs, softly, before going back to his own business. He can’t waste any time today; there is a young warrior to train tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s my first time writing for this fandom, hope you enjoyed. This is crossposted from my TDP blog, I wrote it a few months ago but I felt like I should publish it on AO3 too for safekeeping.


End file.
